17 Feb 2010
Gallery of Processor Cache Effects

There's more to technical brilliance than, well, technical brilliance. Clear exposition helps, and this is the clearest exposition of processor cache operations I've ever read.

Most of my readers will understand that cache is a fast but small type of memory that stores recently accessed memory locations. This description is reasonably accurate, but the "boring" details of how processor caches work can help a lot when trying to understand program performance.

(link) [Igor Ostrovsky Blogging]

via Sutter's Mill

23:41 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

How Christian Were the Founders?

It seems as though the Christian Right never tires of trotting out the Founding Christian Fathers. Except, well, they really weren't. Religion in 18th century America is a lot more complicated than most people are willing to admit - this is a reasonably balanced overview of the topic.

Last month, a week before the Senate seat of the liberal icon Edward M. Kennedy fell into Republican hands, his legacy suffered another blow that was perhaps just as damaging, if less noticed. It happened during what has become an annual spectacle in the culture wars.

(link) [New York Times]

23:36 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link